Fortuna Quod Mos
by oogleberry
Summary: Against all of her preconceived notions of love and relationships, Hermione experiences the double-edged sword of fate with the last person she expects. [UPDATED CHAPTER TWO]
1. Prologue: Unexpected

**A/N:** Since I have only written poetry, I wanted to try my hand at a full-fledged fic. Many thanks to Culumacilinte's nudging and encouragement as well as the ship choice.

**Summary: **Against all of her preconceived notions of love and relationships, Hermione experiences the double-edged sword of fate with the last person she expects.

**Disclaimer: **Since I am not married, do not have children, and am less than average height, I do not believe myself to be JK Rowling; therefore, I shall give up my imagined rights to all of the characters in this fic to the aforementioned.

**Fortuna Quod Mos  
**

**Prologue**

_He's really not a beast, just misunderstood._

How cliché, to say that every evil or seemingly maligned person that ever walked on this Earth is only misunderstood. Not like I care; it's true. He loves me, and I reciprocate his feelings. That's all that matters. Who gives a damn who he is or what he's done in the past? Again, not me.

There was a time when it would have made a difference in my life choices, but that period has been swept into memories. There's a new me now, one that nobody would ever recognize as the bookish prude I once was. The strange thing is that I seem to be repeating his every action, mimicking his path through life. I am not just in his shadow, but I am becoming his shadow itself, an essential part of him. Love can do strange things to a person, even to me.

I never wanted to love. I saw the aches and pains it caused my parents and my friends. It seemed too much for a person to bear. I did try it once. I hated it. To give oneself totally to another person with complete trust seemed foolish to me. There were other things that I could devote myself to. I almost prided myself in the fact that, I, Hermione Granger, was able to get through school without a proper relationship.

Sure, there was Krum. We had our time, but after a while, he became more of a friend. He was older, and I was still at school. We both realized that our minds, although similar, that didn't blend completely with the one of the other. After that, I gave up on love. To me, it was worthless.

Then I opened my eyes and saw him, the one for whom I would desire, crave almost. I could practically see the melding of our brains into one, a being of their own. For the first time, I realized who he was and what we could become together. My feelings on love were reversed.

How I came to be like this, I don't know. I never planned on it, but planning provides no guarantee. It seemed to be willed by forces beyond either of our control. It took us a long time to discover that we can never alter destiny, no matter how many times we try to buck it off of our backs. The best we can do is live with it, perhaps even enjoy it. My fate went against every grain of sense that was in my brain, every inhibition that I had fabricated during my lifetime.

How was I to know my future? Divination is a wooly subject that I refused to study. Knowledge or no, I had to learn to accept what life dealt me, even though I sometimes had to bluff my way through a hand. Now, that façade of pretending is gone, leaving only my true feelings. Like I said before, I love him. But that wasn't always the case.


	2. Chapter One: Train Ride

**A/N:** Thanks for the reviews, everyone. I apologize for the very long delay on this chapter. I have no excuse but writer's block and laziness. I seem to have an unwillingness to tackle multi-chaptered stories, but I have found it to be quite enjoyable. I have added a bit to this chapter, unbeta-d. Thanks to **Cho** **the Original **for the grammar assistance.

**Summary: **Against all of her preconceived notions of love and relationships, Hermione experiences the double-edged sword of fate with the last person she expects.

**Disclaimer: **J.K. Rowling is richer than the Queen of England. Since I do not have enough money to even see the new Star Wars movie for the third time, I can conclude that I am most definitely not J.K. Rowling. It's all hers.

**Fortuna Quod Mos**

**Train Ride**

"C'mon Ron, we're going to be late for the train!"

"I'm coming. I just need to fetch Pig's cage and food from the car."

Today was September 1st, the first day of our seventh year at Hogwarts. Ron, Harry, and I were mentally preparing for our final ride on the Hogwarts Express. I was excited for the new opportunities that I was going to have academically, with NEWTS and all, but I was also saddened by the realization that I would be leaving the familiar behind. I had yet to decide what I was going to do with my future; there were a multitude of career paths open to me. Harry had chosen to go into Auror training despite his dislike for the Ministry. Ron, of course, has decided to try out for the Chudley Cannons as their reserve keeper. Believing he had great promise, he had brought his broom to every Cannon's game that we had had attended, waiting until the end to whip it out and make a few rounds around the pitch. Harry and I had refused to engage in such a practice.

"Harry, get out of the car!" I shouted as Ron and I began walking onto the area between Platforms Nine and Ten.

"Yeah, Harry, you don't miss the train like we did in second year, mate," said Ron, half-jokingly.

"Of course not, Harry," I strode over to the car and tugged on his arm, a pitiful attempt to remove him from the vehicle at best.

"All right, I'm coming 'Mione. Dobby's not around to stop us this time," chuckled Harry, knowing how much I didn't want to miss the Express. Putting all of our stuff on trolleys, we strode through the barrier to Platform 9¾ just in time to hear the whistle of the train.

"We have to hurry. C'mon, let's go," I said, bustling past a few nervous-looking children with their parents.

"First years," muttered Ron.

"Ron, be nice," said Harry. "Don't worry, Hermione. We still have five minutes. Look, there's Ginny." I looked at one of the coaches and saw Ginny waving excitedly at us.

"I've saved you lot some seats with Neville, Luna, and I. They're going quick!" she yelled, looking rather flushed.

"Shut it, Ginny. Who would want to sit with you?" laughed Ron. "We're coming."

We entered the train to find it in its usual hustle and bustle, everyone scrambling for a good seat. We found Ginny and Neville looking rather strangely at each other while Luna sat in the corner reading a book entitled _The Stubby Black Conspiracy: What the Ministry Didn't Tell You About Your Favorite Fugitive_.

"Luna, what are you reading?"

"Oh, Hermione, it's just Daddy's new book. It's been in the works for nearly two years, after he published that article in _The Quibbler_."

"Ah," I replied, not wanting to remind her of what had happened in the Department of Mysteries. Meanwhile, Ron was having an interesting conversation with Ginny.

"Gin, that behavior is unacceptable for a girl your age!"

"What behavior, dearest brother?"

"Erm…Ginny, you know what I mean," said Ron, eyeing Neville suspiciously. Ginny, it appeared, had been engaged in a tickling battle with Neville while waiting for us to get on the train.

"Oh, come off it, Ron. We're just having fun. Besides, I'm sixteen. When you were my age, you weren't any better. Remember when you – "

"We do not need to talk about that, Ginevra Weasley. That's not even any of your business," growled Ron in an attempt to squash the current direction of the conversation but to no avail.

"Yeah, Ginny, remember the time when Ron got caught by George with the love letter to Hermione?" chimed Harry.

"Oh, do I ever. And the time he bought her that mound of chocolates from Fred that turned out to be full of canary cream?"

"It was a good thing he tested them first!"

"Hey, you two, that's enough," I interjected.

"I'll say," mumbled Ron, red at the ears. "I gave up on Hermione last June."

"Sure you did," teased Ginny.

"He did. Didn't I tell you that we tried something?" Harry, Ginny, and Neville looked oblivious. "Well, Harry, that's where Ron and I really were the second Hogsmeade weekend. There was no special Gryffindor Prefect meeting."

"I knew it!" cried Ginny.

"We went down by the cave where Sirius stayed during fourth year and just talked. We did kiss a few times even though we had agreed not to. We spent all day there discussing our feelings and our futures. In the end, we decided that it wasn't the right thing to do. We both didn't have time for anything because of homework, SPEW, and Quidditch. We would have just had more rows than we do now, and I probably would have collapsed from stress."

"Did you have to tell them that?"

"They deserve to know, Ron. People gossip otherwise."

"She right, Ron. Otherwise there would be rumors flying about you two having bushy-haired redheads running around at the Burrow."

"Well, I'm glad that's not the case," said a slightly relieved Ron. He seemed to be all right, but I couldn't help but think that there was something he wanted to say.

"Who's hungry?" said Neville, gesturing to the witch with the food trolley waiting outside of the compartment. Harry dug some money out of their pockets and bought the lot to share with us all. We all grabbed for our favorites.

"Oi! That's my pumpkin cake, Harry!" yelled Ron, diving for the last one.

"No, mate, that would be mine," bellowed Harry, tackling Ron.'

"How about you two kindly give it to one of us who is lacking a pumpkin cake?" Luna said, nodding at their heaping stacks of cakes beside them.

"Oh, fine. Give it to Hermione." I was handed a squashed, cracked orange cake that was missing half of its icing.

"Why, thank you boys."

"Anytime," grinned Harry.

"So, I hear you're Head Girl, Hermione," said Neville. I blushed a bit at this but quickly regained my composure remembering the seriousness of the job.

"Well, yes, I am, so I'll have to leave in a few minutes to report to duty with the new Head Boy."

"Who's the Head Boy anyways?" asked Ron.

"Yeah, I've been wondering myself, seeing as they don't inform us _regular _students," pondered Harry.

"I was surprised that you didn't get it, Harry."

"Aw, Gin, you know I have more important things to do," laughed Harry.

"Like chasing that chocolate frog around the compartment?" I said, giving Harry a chastising look. "For your information, Malfoy is the new Head Boy."

"Malfoy! But he's almost surely a Death Eater. Why in the world would Dumbledore want him in charge of the school?"

"I know that Ron. Dumbledore probably wants to keep a closer watch on him and his dealings with You-Know-Who."

"You're probably right, Hermione. With all of the dark activity recently, it's even more important for Dumbledore to know the plans of Voldemort," Harry pointed out.

"You be careful, Hermione. You never know what a Death Eater could do to you," warned Neville, paling a bit.

_Poor Neville, _I thought, _he must hate being reminded of his parents. He wouldn't want to lose anyone else in the same way_.

"Don't worry. I've spent most of the summer reading up about new defenses for the DA, so I think I'll be fine."

"Still, Hermione, if you ever need help with that slimy ferret, we'll be here ready to pounce."

"Thanks, Harry, but don't think you can get away with attacking Malfoy just because I'm Head Girl now. I do have a responsibility to keep the students under control. That means you too, Ginny. No more Bat Bogey Hex," I replied, remembering all too well what Ginny's hexes and pranks could do.

"Aw, 'Mione. That was only a joke. Dennis got better in no time!"

"Only after growing wings and seeping snot from his fingernails for three days," I shot back.

"But you must admit it was hilarious," said Ron.

"Well, I don't know about that," I sighed, "but I must be on my way to the Heads Compartment now anyways. Please don't cause any problems while I'm gone. You don't want have points taken off before we even get to school."

"Don't worry Hermione, we'll behave," said Harry, already diving for a chocolate frog from Neville's enormous stack.

_Boys will be boys_, I thought, making my way out into the foyer. _No matter how hard you try, they'll never follow the rules. _

**A/N:** This chapter doesn't cover much ground, but I am working on it. As you can see, I have updated this chapter to give it a bit more depth. I am working on Chapter Three like I promised. Thanks!


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